


Ink

by RedTeamShark



Category: RWBY
Genre: (Mostly) Proper Tattoo Safety, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mid-Canon, Needles, Pre-Tournament, Scars, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-02 13:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10945656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedTeamShark/pseuds/RedTeamShark
Summary: “This might hurt a bit.”Despite her best efforts, Yang still winced when the needle first touched her skin.-Pre-tournament, Mercury gives Yang a tattoo.





	Ink

“You’re staring.” The voice snapped her out of her trance, eyes darting up to meet his.

“Oh, I was just--uh--you’re one of the transfer students from Haven, right? Here for the tournament?” Yang flushed slightly, aware of the stupidity of her question.

“Yeah. And if we’re making obvious statements… You’re a Beacon student. Fighting in the tournament. Mercury Black.”

“Yang Xiao Long. How’d you know I was fighting?”

“I’ve been sitting in on some combat classes.” He leaned on her desk, voice just a little lower. Sexier. It seemed like this was going where she’d hoped it could.

“Scoping the competition?” She smirked, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Suddenly getting cold feet?”

“Sure… What were you staring at?”

No use denying it. “I saw something under your uniform… Was trying to figure out what it was…” She missed the cold flash of his eyes, from a fellow student to someone much more calculating. “You have a tattoo, right?”

“I have a couple, yeah,” Mercury agreed, rolling his shoulders. “Why?”

“I’ve just… kind of always wanted one. Curious about them and all that. Where’d you get yours done?”

“Here and there. Most of them were, you know, self-inflicted.”

“You did it yourself?” She looked at him, eyebrows raised. “Can I see?”

After a moment, Mercury nodded, rolling his sleeve up and showing her the swirl of black ink on his wrist. It wasn’t much from a creativity perspective, but the lines were clean and even--more than she’d ever be able to do to her own skin. She reached up, hesitating just a moment, looking at him for permission before running her fingers over the inked skin. Uneven, like there were scars under it. Strange.

“That one was my first one.” He rolled his sleeve down, instead lifting his shirt to expose his side. “This one I got done professionally.” It was heavier on the design elements, the lines still smooth and evenly weighted. Yang didn’t touch that one, though she studied it closely. “Why, you want one or something?”

“I… Yeah, kind of. I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” she sat back, turning her wrist and pulling her school uniform sleeve out of the way to show him the inside of her forearm. “A bird, right here.”

“Wrist hurts like hell to get done. But if you draw it up… Or get someone else to… I could probably do it for you?”

“I’ll… Think about it.”

* * *

There was no one she knew that could draw… Nor anyone that she wanted to explain why she needed a drawing of a particular bird to. Ruby would know, of course, and give her that look, the same look their dad gave her… Everyone else would ask. So, no help there.

Yang found Mercury outside by the fountain almost a week after their conversation, his back propped against the stone and a comic book in his hand. Not bothering to be coy, she sat down next to him and handed over a piece of paper. “If you laugh I will punch you right in the stomach. I drew this myself and worked hard on it.”

To his credit, he didn’t laugh. Smirk, sure, but that seemed inevitable with him. “You are not an artist. Is this supposed to be a bird?”

“Well, you can tell what it is, so I guess I did okay.”

“You said you wanted a bird.” He’d remembered. Some silly little thing about her, but he’d taken note enough to remember. Despite the mockery, she was sort of flattered.

“It doesn’t matter if it looks good or not because it’ll usually be covered up like yours. But I’ll know it’s there and I’ll know what it is.” And what it means. Who it’s about. She bit her lip, rubbing her wrist. “If you don’t want to I’ll--”

“I’ll do it.” Mercury shrugged, folding the paper and stuffing it into his pocket. “Give me a few days to get some equipment. Clean needles, ink, all that. We can do it in your dorm… As long as your team isn’t going to hover over my shoulder.”

He’d do it? Just like that? Not even a question? Yang swallowed her surprise, nodding. “Sure. I’ll kick them out for a night. Sock on the door and all that.”

“Sock on the…?” Mercury frowned, shaking his head. “Whatever. I’ll let you know when I have the stuff.”

* * *

The set up wasn’t intimidating, and the cool, precise way he worked definitely should have put her nerves at ease. All of the equipment was safety sealed, no dirty needles here. Still, she was sitting on Blake’s bunk with her bared left arm propped on an end table, wrist exposed and Mercury getting ready to put ink into her skin. He’d already put ink on her skin, carefully drawn her design with a marker to trace over with the needle. She knew what it would look like when it was done, where it would be forever.

It was kind of insane.

“You ready, blondie?” Mercury pulled up a chair across from her, his gloved fingers touching her wrist.

Swallowing, Yang nodded. She didn’t quite trust her voice not to shake.

“This might hurt a bit.”

Despite her best efforts, Yang still winced when the needle first touched her skin. It didn’t particularly hurt, no more than an immunization shot. Though feeling it happen over and over again… She pushed the thought from her mind, looked out her window rather than at the progress. Focus elsewhere. It was easy. The sun setting over Vale. The birds flying by, sparrows and pigeons probably. Mercury’s careful hand on her arm, holding her wrist steady. Occasionally wiping a cloth against his work.

Focus elsewhere.

The small crease between his brows as he concentrated, the tip of his tongue flicking occasionally against the corner of his mouth. The warmth of his body next to hers, his knee just barely touching her own. Hum of the machine, slowly becoming less terrifying and more soothing.

Mercury wiped her arm again and sat back, shutting the machine off. Yang looked down, her eyes wide. It was done. There was some smudged ink on her arm still, leftover from the drawing earlier, but it was done. Permanently in her skin, a small doodle of a bird that only she would know was a raven.

“It looks pretty good,” Mercury said, pressing a damp cloth lightly over the image. “It’s gonna look a little weird while it heals, scabs and stuff--which is _totally_ normal--but once it’s healed it’ll look nice. As long as you don’t fuck it up, that is. Keep it clean, keep from picking the scabs. Two weeks, maybe three, and it should be fine.”

“I… Can do. Thanks.” She smiled, standing up and stretching out. It hadn’t been that bad. Not that bad at all. “I should have probably considered _not_ giving myself an injury right before tournament qualifications.” Even if it wasn’t bad, even if her aura would pick up some of the healing slack.

There didn’t seem to be much else to say, not much else that needed to be said. Mercury threw away his gloves and packed up his tools, his back to her. He wasn’t wearing his usual arm guards, she could see the black tattoo spiraling up his wrist. “Hey… that one on your arm…”

“Yeah?”

“Well, it felt… kinda bumpy, I guess? Is that just how it healed?” Was hers going to do that, too? She couldn’t imagine having that under her gauntlet forever.

Mercury stilled, his shoulders pulling up. Sore subject? Maybe he hadn’t listened to--no, he’d said he did that one himself. “Sometimes… You get a tattoo to remind you of something. Sometimes you get one so you can forget.” He rubbed his wrist slowly, turning towards her and meeting her eyes. “I didn’t have a sunshine and rainbows kinda childhood and… I want to bury as much of it as I can.”

There wasn’t much she could say to that. Sympathies felt cheap and didn’t seem to be what he wanted anyways. Yang nodded after a moment, smiling instead. “Then I won’t ask about it. Now, how about I buy you some dinner? Payment for the time and equipment and tattoo, you know?” And not at all a date, no matter what her friends would say when she got back.

He relaxed, smiling back after a second, hand dropping from his wrist. “Dinner sounds great.”


End file.
